Ever Hear of Cold Ones?

Chapter 1

When Dean answered the phone it was only because he saw Bobby's number on the ID. "Yeah Bobby, what've you got?" Sam gave him an inquiring look to which he could only roll his eyes. What'd he want, telepathy? He'd only just answered the damn thing.

"Dean, need you to head on up to Washington if you don't have anything goin' on. Got a call from an old friend's daughter." Bobby was his usual self, crotchety and sparse on the niceties.

"Well we were planning on torching a ghost over in Utah. Could head up that way afterwards. What's she think's goin' on?" Seeing Sammy give him another look, albeit slightly bitchier, Dean mouthed, 'Washington' at his brother and considered his work done.

"Y'ever hear a Cold Ones?" Bobby's question was equal parts worried and confused. "I've got a few references but they're all tied up in legends about Wendigo and Vampires with a dash of Quileute lore thrown in for spice."

"Hard to decipher or just a lotta conflicting information?" Dean was now officially concerned. New supernatural threats were never a good thing. And anything related to Wendigo was bad news. The things were freaky fast and hard as hell to kill.

"Try little to no information." Bobby was sounding a little frustrated. "Best suggestion I can find is find some books on Quileute legends and mythology. I've got one book, printed back in the forties about the Quileute tribes, sayin' they can shift into giant wolves but, get this, they ain't werewolves. They call 'em spirit warriors and the wolves are to defend the tribe and humans against the 'Cold Ones'."

"That's new." Dean didn't enjoy feeling flummoxed. "Guess if it's true the girl oughta talk to the tribe. See if she can get some backup until we get there."

Sam made a frustrated noise and in exasperation Dean threw him the phone, or threw the phone at him, either/or. "Here, talk to Bobby. You two can theorize while I drive. This salt an' burn shouldn't take too long and we're almost there."

Ganking the ghost got a little tricky when it didn't have a grave. Burning up an urn of ashes and a lock of hair was only hard because it took a while to find the stuff. But two days later he and Sammy were on their way to Washington.

"So you find anything about Cold Ones?" He looked at Sammy as he drove. "Anything on the Quileute?"

"Plenty on the Quileute," Sam shrugged. "Not much on the Cold Ones." He shook his head. "I've found a few things, mostly stuff that, like Bobby said."

"So did Bobby say anything about this girl?" Dean asked figuring curiosity wouldn't do any harm.

"Yeah...apparently her name is Isabella Swan, she's the daughter of Charlie Swan." Sam nodded when Dean looked at him in astonishment. "Yeah, that Charlie Swan. When Bobby said old friend he forgot to mention, retired Hunter, book collection to rival Bobby's and he's been the Sherriff in Forks, Washington since...well...since he confined his Hunting to that general area."

"And he doesn't know about this stuff either?" Dean shook his head in amazement. "That does not bode well man."

"Well when we get there we're to report straight to the Swan house. Apparently they're expecting us." Sam pointed at the exit sign and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yeah I see it Sammy, what'm I? Blind?" Dean sighed gustily as he switched lanes. "So if Charlie Swan is on the case up there why the hell do they need us?"

"Well if Swan is Bobby's age he's probably not Hunting much anymore." Sam shrugged. "And I guess his daughter is in school still. Wonder what that's like?"

Dean let that pass since Sammy had pretty much dedicated his life to getting into college and that had gone to hell in a hand-basket, pun intended. "How'd she even see these things if she's in school? If you're any kinda example there's not much time between classes to go wandering around."

"Forks seems semi isolated. Little town along the highway along the way to bigger towns…" Sam was studying the map. "It's barely a dot."

"So…what? She's goin' to state college and commuting home?" Dean considered that. "I guess if she saw something weird while she was traveling…"

"We'll find out soon enough." Sam shrugged and went back to his research.

"Forks, WA," Dead read the sign on the town border. "Population thirty six hundred eighty eight." He shook his head, "Not exactly booming is it?"

"If the highway didn't go through here it probably wouldn't exist," Sam shrugged. "Kinda like old railroad towns."

"Forks…makes me wonder if there's another one down the line called Spoons or something. Knives? Napkins?" Dean glanced down at the directions Bobby had given them and drove carefully down the side streets, rain misting over the windows and finally pulled up in front of a white sided house.

The front door opened almost immediately and a dark haired girl stood on the steps. Dean whistled appreciatively. "Damn…"

"Pretty sure she won't appreciate you drooling on her." Sam was rolling his eyes again.

"You gotta admit, she's drool worthy." Dean studied her. She was pretty, long dark hair, dark eyes and pale skin. Of course if she lived up here where the sun never shone she wouldn't get much of a chance to tan. Honestly she wasn't his usual type. He generally preferred woman who were looking for fun for a night. This one had 'relationship' written all over her.

"Not your usual type." Sam observed as he shoved books into his pack. "Not tanned enough or blonde enough."

"Thanks, didn't realize I had a type." Dean snarked as he climbed out of the Impala and called out to the girl. "Hey, we got the right address for Sherriff Swan?"

"Yeah. That's my dad." She pushed a lock of hair behind one ear in what seemed like a nervous gesture. "You're the Winchesters?"

"Yep." Dean pulled his own pack out of the backseat and strode forward. "I'm Dean, that's Sammy my little brother."

Her eyes went from him to Sam's taller frame and her mouth quirked in a half smile, obviously appreciating the contrast in description and height. "Huh. I'm Bella. Charlie's daughter."

Dean nodded and finally asked the question that had been bugging him for half the drive. "How'd you manage to run into Cold Ones. Bobby said you're still in school?"

Her smile was dry and she shook her head. "Would you believe they attend high school?"

Dean was in shock. That had to be it. He'd misheard, misunderstood, mis—something. But whatever Bella had said it was not that the Cold Ones were high school students.

He stared at her for a moment and then at Charlie Swan. "Sir?" He forced the words past strangely numb lips, "Could you maybe…gimme the rundown on the situation again?"

"Stuck on the high school part of it?" Charlie nodded and his brown eyes, like his daughter's, were sympathetic.

"How… What are, I mean…" Dean shook his head. "What'n the hell are they doing?"

"And nobody's noticed?" Sam added with an incredulous look.

"Son, never underestimate the power of human denial." Charlie handed them each a beer and kissed his daughter's head before he sat down again. "I've known something was off about Carlisle Cullen but I never could pin it down. He's a doctor and he's never had anything untoward happen with a patient or with anyone. He and his family are in the 'too good to be true' part of my brain."

"Bobby said these Cold Ones were like a cross between Wendigo and Vampires," Dean offered. "But if they haven't been rampaging, killing, and there aren't any disappearances…"

"Their skin is ice cold." Bella offered quietly. "I sit next to one in Biology." She added with a grimace. "He's…weird. The other four are too gorgeous to be human, but he's just odd. I might have overlooked it but I've been reading Charlie's books about creatures since…well, since I could read. And his eyes changed color."

"Changed color?" Sam leaned forward, eager to learn as always. "How do you mean?"

"I mean they were black when I first met him. Not solid black like possession's supposed to be, black irises." Bella explained. "But when he came back to school the week after, his eyes were…like amber? Dark gold."

Dean rubbed his eyes; the non stop drive was clearly catching up to him. "We've been trying to read up on the Quileute legends about Cold Ones. Bobby mentioned you've got contacts with the tribe?"

"Yeah, Billy Black's one of the elders and he's been my best friend since I was a kid. We Hunted together until he ended up in a wheelchair." Charlie nodded. "Bella's gotta go to school tomorrow but afterwards we can all take a trip out to the rez."

"You're going back to school where you gotta take classes with one of those things?" Dean looked at Bella in astonishment and Sam looked up from his notes to stare.

Bella shrugged, "Hey, they haven't done anything yet. For all we know they're some sort of…peace loving, tree hugging, Cold Ones." She began to clean up the remains of the meal. "They're hugely popular at school, answers to every teacher's question, gorgeous, fashionable, even the guys dress like a magazine. It kinda freaks me out if you wanna know the truth. Like they're imitating human life but they're not quite getting it right. Between that and the eyes, that's why I started to look through Charlie's books again."

"And you're going to school with them." Dean shook his head. "No freakin' way."

"You can't stop me from going to school." Bella glared at him. "If I didn't stop when I was freaked out by the Cold Ones, I'm not going to stop just because you say so."

"Fine." Dean glared back. "Then I'm going too." That got a chortle from Sam and a half smile from Charlie Swan. "Oh, so you're gonna tell me you're okay with this?" He switched the look to the Sherriff questioningly.

"Son I never said I was, I just was trying to picture you in a classroom." Charlie's smile widened. He pulled a cellphone out of his pocket and dialed a number, speaking to someone in genial tones once they answered. Dean watched as the Sherriff spun a story about an old friend's son visiting and interested in the high school's programs and classes. "So I was wondering if he could tag along with Bella tomorrow, get an idea of what we offer. He's got a younger brother he might enroll if his work takes him this way."

Bella was smirking, an expression that looked more at home than it should on her supposedly innocent face, as her father managed to get permission for him to 'tag along' with her at school the next day. By the time Charlie had hung up she was almost laughing. "You are so toast. You're gonna be so bored." She shook her head.

Dean shrugged. "I'll have your legs to look at. How bored could I really get?" The instant the words were out of his mouth he knew he was in trouble. He counted a slow five and looked at Charlie only to find the man chortling at the shocked look on his daughter's face.

"Charlie you are… so gonna get it." Bella almost growled at her father. "It's not that funny."

"I've been telling you for years that the boys at your old school are idiots." Charlie was shaking his head, beer bottle dangling precariously from his fingers as he laughed. "They're panting after you here but you think it's because you're the shiny new toy."

"Are you kidding? Is he kidding?" Dean stared from Charlie to Bella in astonishment. "You're not even my type and I can see you're gorgeous. What're you wearin' a burka to school?"

Bella's little shriek of frustration set her father laughing again and he shook his head as she took the empty beer bottles and sent them crashing into the recycle bin. Sam winced and sent Dean a look that advised caution. "Well, we should get going…I thought I saw a motel on the edge of town."

"No." Charlie stood and grabbed their bags. "I bought this house when I thought I was gonna have more than one kid. When Bobby told me you were coming Bella and I cleared out the other bedrooms. They're small but the mattresses should beat the Dew Drop Inn."

"I put Sam's bag in the green room and Dean's is in the brown one." Bella called from the kitchen. She came out with a dishtowel in her hands.

"We've got protective symbols carved into the woodwork," Charlie explained. "And last summer Bella and I got every way into this house covered, including the fireplaces."

Sam looked at him and Dean nodded, "Well thanks then." He offered, a little taken aback.

"Yeah, Bobby's really the only one who's ever opened his home up to us." Sam added with a grateful smile. "But we can eat a lot…so maybe we could help with the groceries?"

Charlie shook his head. "Boys I know how you two subsidize your Hunting. And I don't mind it, in other towns. But folks around here don't really have the wherewithal to cover credit card fraud. You're here, you're helping us; we can cover your board while you're here."

Dean looked down, a little embarrassed by the gently worded warning. "It isn't like…" He stopped. There wasn't really a way to explain it that didn't sound like a slam to Dad or an excuse.

"Hey," Bella touched his arm to get his attention. "We get it. You two don't exactly have the luxury of full time jobs and Hunting on weekends. You help people. You are helping us. We just…don't want you to have to worry about making ends meet while you're here."

"Now if you wanna go and shoot pool down in Port Angeles and lighten a few wallets nobody's gonna stop you." Charlie added with a grin. "But this is a small town and we want you to be welcomed back. And not just by us."

"C'mon. I'll show you guys the rooms. You're tired. And I gotta be at school by eight." Bella nudged him gently and led the way up the stairs. "Only one bathroom so if you two wanna shower tonight that'll leave plenty of hot water for me and Charlie in the morning. We both need it to wake up."

"Not morning people?" Dean asked, trying to keep his eyes off her cute ass as he followed her.

Her laugh was dry as dust. "Not hardly."

"Know the feeling." Dean admitted. "We got some cash. You want us to go out and score breakfast?"

"Nah, once I've had a shower I'm safe around dangerous objects like stoves and microwaves." Bella gave him an amused look over her shoulder that made her look years older than she was and gestured to a room with dark green walls and soft white trim. "Sam you're in here. And Dean, you're right next to him here." She opened a door a couple yards down the hall and showed him his room, with polished walnut floors and a damask pattered wallpaper in shades of brown and cream.

"Uh…thanks." Dean stared at the room, still half amazed that the Swans were offering. "It's…uh…it's really nice."

"It's not really, but we tried to make the comfortable." Bella smiled slightly. "I'm on the other side of the stairs and the bathroom is right at the top of them. Charlie's opposite of me."

"We'll be fine. Thanks." Sam smiled. "We'll see you in the morning. Maybe I can go to work with your dad and go over some of the old records. Now that we've got some names, I can do some research, see if there's any history with these Cullens."

"Sounds good. I'll let him know." Bella pushed her hair behind her ears and headed back towards the stairs. Moments later Dean heard the telltale creak of the steps as she went back down them.

He looked over at Sam. "So…ideas?"

Morning brought ice and sleet, pissing down rain and Dean helped Charlie put chains on Bella's truck. Sam came out while Bella was cooking and looked at Dean. "So I've got an idea, not sure if you're gonna like it."

"Well hell, you start off like that you can almost guarantee it." Dean scraped ice of the Impala's windshield and rear window. "Tell me anyway."

"I was thinkin' we call Cas. Ask him what he knows about these Cold Ones." Sam shrugged. "I've never heard of a vampire able to go to anywhere with the scent of blood all around them and not have it turn into a blood bath. And Wendigo can't even talk...they lose their humanity when they start to eat flesh."

"And you figure a mix of the two requires divine intervention," Dean sighed. "We haven't heard from him since the apocalypse got canceled. All the dicks with wings went back to heaven."

"Yeah so they were a little upset when someone took away their toys." Sam shrugged. "Besides, Castiel wasn't like the archangels. He liked people. He thought we were weird but he liked us."

"Well we can try it I guess." Dean looked at his now ice free car and sighed. "Better go in and explain the plan to the Swans."

"Oh yeah, this they'll never believe." Sam sighed but followed him into the house.

Bella took it pretty well. Her eyes got wide and she forgot to scramble the eggs she was making for a minute but that was all it took for her to adjust. Charlie was a tougher sell.

"You mean to tell me we were on the verge of the Apocalypse and nobody noticed?" Sherriff Swan was staring at them. "And the only reason it didn't happen was God stopped it?"

"Near as we can figure." Dean shrugged. "We were all set with the plan. Woulda ended up stuck in a cage in Hell for eternity but the world woulda gone on."

"Next thing we know, we don't have the rings anymore. Castiel's alive, and got this look on his face like he's seen the most wonderful thing ever. Michael and Lucifer are gone. And there's no plague of blood or locusts or Croatoan virus." Sam absently thanked Bella for the plate she put in front of him and continued. "Dean's pendant is back around his neck and glowing like crazy. Castiel said it was supposed to glow in the presence of God."

"Thing about angels...most of the ones we've met, they don't much like humans." Dean was eating hungrily. "Dicks with wings really."

"So God, canceled the Apocalypse, and the angels are mad about it?" Charlie shook his head trying to work that one out logically and obviously coming up short.

"Yeah, apparently they're irked because it was their chance to get rid of humanity. We're a blight." Dean informed him with a cheerful grin. "But we've got free will. You'd think they'd be happy God proved to them that he was still around. But they're still whiny little bitches."

Bella nodded as she put Charlie's plate in front of him and sat down with hers. "I remember reading about that. In the hierarchy of heaven, humanity is before even the archangels because we have the choice to do good. We aren't compelled. We have souls. Angels don't."

"And your idea is to call this angel pal of yours and ask him about the Cullens." Charlie took a sip of coffee and sighed. "Well I guess there are worse plans."

"If these Cold Ones are like Wendigos but with brains...not just animal cunning we're in a heap of trouble." Sam shrugged. "It's hard as hell to catch a Wendigo long enough to set it on fire, even if you lure it with live bait. And a Vampire nest...well they're worse. Combine the two? I don't want to think about how hard it would be to kill one of them."

Dean tore his attention away from the eggs and bacon to look at Charlie. "It isn't the only option, we're just..."

"Hey I get it. It's not like we can do recon. And we need information." Charlie held up his hand in surrender. "I'll give Billy a call, ask him over. Going to the reservation might take too much time. And there're things Billy might say here that he'd feel he couldn't if he was at home."

"Not as much pressure to be the Elder," Sam nodded his understanding. Breakfast continued in mostly contented silence as they all ate. Coats and jackets later along with Bella grabbing her bag Dean and Bella were out the front door.

"So… we're still headed to school," Dean grinned at Bella.

"Be still my heart," Bella rolled her eyes with a half-smile.

"Well in order to spare mine, how about you let me drive?" Dean patted her truck. "Your dad mentioned you're still not used to the ice while we were putting on the chains. And it'd be a shame for a classic like this to meet a tree due to inexperience."

She frowned at him but nodded reluctantly. "Only if after school you take some time to let me practice. And talk me through what you're doing on the way to school." His look must have required an explanation because she shrugged. "You're not always gonna be here. I need to know this stuff and Charlie's pretty busy keeping the town in line."

Dean nodded, "We'll fit it in somehow. Meantime gorgeous, watch and learn."

Her blush crept over her pale skin and for a second he was tempted to cup her jaw so he could feel the heat under her skin. Instead he opened the passenger door for her and admired her legs as she climbed in.

He explained the general rules of the road regarding ice and snow as he drove, following her directions. She was pretty good at the directions thing, telling him at least a block ahead where turns where and the street names. That was a good thing because it took a little while for the truck to slow down given the ice and the weight of the truck. "Can't believe they haven't even salted the parking lot." He shook his head as he pulled into a space.

"With the rain and the temperatures rising this afternoon they might have figured it wasn't worth it." Bella shrugged. "The town doesn't have a lot of money. That's part of why the Cullens are such a big deal to the kids here. Everyone thinks they're glamourous." She climbed out of her side of the truck and Dean began to exit his, lifting the windshield wipers to keep them from icing over after he shut the door.

The sound of another engine coming closer drew his gaze towards the parking lot entrance and he saw a van coming towards the truck dangerously fast. Reflexes honed from years of Hunting propelled him over the hood of Bella's truck moments before the van hit the truck's door, the corner of the hood and headlights striking inches from where he'd been standing.

He looked over at Bella and narrowed his eyes at the tall auburn haired kid standing beside her. "Where'd you come from Red?" He slid off Bella's hood and put a hand under her elbow. "Bella you okay? The impact didn't jar the truck into you?"

"I think you hit your head." The boy was looking at him with something like surprise on his pale face. "I came over here before the van hit her truck."

Dean shook his head as the rest of the school converged on them. "You can sell that story all you want kid. But you and I know that you nearly outed yourself. Bella and I aren't as stupid as you're assuming."

The boy's dark gold eyes seemed to change, grow darker as he stared at them and his mouth twisted petulantly before he stalked off through the crowd. "No one will believe you." He tossed the words over his shoulder.

Dean looked at Bella and grinned. "So are things always this exciting?"

Author's Note: So my first Supernatural/Twilight crossover. I got the idea from a video game my husband played called Until Dawn, which features Wendigo as the big bads. And it occurred to me that Twilight Vampires are kind of a cross between Wendigo and traditional vampires with sparkly skin stuffed in for effect. I thought the Cold Ones could be something no Hunter's really come across before because hey, super fast, lethal and violent. A Hunter meeting a Cold One would pretty much be the end of the Hunter until they figured out how to shoot fire from a distance and remain unseen. So...here we are.